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Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

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Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#111

Post by parag0ne »

b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

Agreed, anyone that already struggles with something like this should quit caffeine. My life is so much better off of it, but I struggle to stay off of it because I'm addicted to the 2hr productivity boost vs the all-day steadiness when you're not on caffeine. Things that improve for me were: No sense of urgency for every single thing. Significantly improved confidence. Word things better and speak better in general. No hard crash later in the day. All my scattered thoughts become cohesive. No more random heart palpitations.

All of these likely got better due to the overall effect of decreased anxiety and not making ADHD worse. I'm not myself when on caffeine. Nikola Tesla quit all caffeine/other stimulants for a reason.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#112

Post by afpx »

nayroclade wrote: post #67
legulere wrote: post #5

> A 2014 systematic review concluded that vitamin D supplementation does not reduce depressive symptoms overall but may have a moderate benefit for patients with clinically significant depression, though more high-quality studies were determined to be needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Depression

The meta-analysis cited in the article is from 2024 and specifically mentions the Shaffer et al. 2014 review cited by Wikipedia as being low quality: > Some of the available reviews, owing to the limited number of trials and methodological biases, were of low quality (Anglin et al., 2013; Cheng et al., 2020; Li et al., 2014; Shaffer et al., 2014). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11650176/

Therefore what to do? I have seen these Hacker News vitamin D ads appear every few months for the past 15 years, or so. I always seem to have a vitamin D deficiency, so it reminds me to take supplements. I take them for a few months, hoping to see a change, but I don't feel any benefit. Then, I forget to take the supplements until the next time I see an ad. How to know if they're actually doing something useful?

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#113

Post by zelphirkalt »

weird-eye-issue wrote: post #47
spoiler wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While (I think) I agree with you on the facts here, I don't think this type of dismissive comments are that useful either. Can you give the replyee some pointers, for example? Link to articles or studies that show a different view?

Just Google it. There's tons of research on this so I don't know why I need to provide a specific link when this is common knowledge. But also here is something to think about: your body will produce more D3 than that by being in the sun for just several minutes. So if you consider such a low dose of D3 an overdose then you better steer clear of the sun!

> But also here is something to think about: your body will produce more D3 than that by being in the sun for just several minutes. So if you consider such a low dose of D3 an overdose then you better steer clear of the sun!

This is another superficial statement, that displays shallow-at-best understanding. Staying in the sun and producing via the skin, and intake via food are 2 separate pathways. You cannot just make wild assumptions about one of those pathways from stuff you know about the other pathway.

And actually: Yes, you shouldn't stay in the sun for too long without proper protection. Having the sun shine on your skin is not some inherently healthy thing. It too comes with acceptable dosage and overdose. Symptoms of overdose are commonly known as getting a sunburn.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#114

Post by weird-eye-issue »

johnisgood wrote: post #95
weird-eye-issue wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just Google it. There's tons of research on this so I don't know why I need to provide a specific link when this is common knowledge. But also here is something to think about: your body will produce more D3 than that by being in the sun for just several minutes. So if you consider such a low dose of D3 an overdose then you better steer clear of the sun!

The problem with "Just Google it" that you can find a lot of bullshit on this.

You can find scientific papers on Google if you know how to use it.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#115

Post by cies »

Flatterer3544 wrote: post #61
Liquix wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5000 IU is very high, might be beneficial during the winter for folks with very fair skin. but most probably shouldn't take that much every day

You got it backwards, it would be more beneficial in areas with few hours of sun for darker skin folks, since they do not absorb as much Vitamin D as fair skin folk do.

absorb or create?

i understand it as: absorbing is in the intestine, generating D happens in the skin when exposed to the sun

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#117

Post by mk12 »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #73
isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

[flagged]

It does not, at all. Forming that judgment because of “Enter X” is ridiculous. I recognize my friend Claude in disguise all the time on HN and this is not one of those cases.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#118

Post by xenospn »

b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

As someone from the Middle East, just thinking about not drinking coffee makes me lose my will to live. It’s like asking me to wear sunglasses on a cloudy night.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#119

Post by arethuza »

sschueller wrote: post #87
r1ch wrote: post #4

Please do not take 5000mg/day of Vitamin D. The author confuses IU and mg which is very dangerous.

If you don't have an underlying condition it is way better to get the Vitamin D from the sun in 10-30min increments per day after which you are saturated for the day. Overdose is not possible via the sun (excluding sun burns of course). > A single, optimal sun exposure session might produce the equivalent of 10,000 to 25,000 IU from a supplement, but it will not keep increasing with more time in the sun. That's your…

From NHS Scotland:

"In Scotland, we only get enough of the right kind of sunlight for our bodies to make vitamin D between April and September, mostly between 11am and 3pm."

https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition...

Personally I found that taking Vitamin D supplements made quite a bit of difference - and I spend a fair amount of time outside (~3 hours each day).

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#120

Post by Cthulhu_ »

sarreph wrote: post #83
Der_Einzige wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

How would you prove that?

They don't, hence the suspicion instead of a definite assertion. And suspicions are easy, because what are the consequences if it's false? None.

Anyway your comment smells AI generated, I can tell from some of the pixels and seeing quite a few shoops in my time.

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